From left: Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett and Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10) speak during a City Council committee meeting on Wednesday.

Aldermen narrowly voted Wednesday to advance Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $12.5 million proposal to relieve 150,000 Chicagoans from high gas prices after a more than hour-long public debate over the city’s spending priorities, climate policy and election year politics. It was one of a half-dozen items taken up by the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations, including new multi-million-dollar initiatives designed to prop up single-room occupancy hotels and local food banks.